Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
DOCUMENTING POLITICAL UPHEAVAL
Francisco Goya’s career spanned more than six decades and was greatly influenced by the politics of his time. Indeed, his work is akin to a timeline documenting the state of governmental affairs in his native Spain. It’s also been noted that his early art reflects a peace and optimism that fades into literal and figurative darkness in his later works with the passage of time.
Born in Fuendetodos, Goya apprenticed with artist Jose Luzán as a teen. He later joined the studio of brothers Francisco and Ramón Bayeu y Subías and married their sister, Josefa. In 1774, Goya began painting commissions for the aristocracy. He was appointed royal painter under Charles III, which continued into the reign of Charles IV; however, the French occupation of Spain in the early 1800s brought with it total chaos. The Spanish monarch was overthrown, and Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, assumed the throne. Goya was appalled, but pledged his loyalty to the new crown nonetheless and continued in his appointment. When Spanish rule was reinstated a few years later to Ferdinand VII, Goya’s art began detailing the horrors of war and the suffering of the Spanish people under French rule; however, Ferdinand questioned the artist’s loyalty, and the royal commissions dried up.
Angry and bitter, Goya retired to the country where he painted works that became increasingly dark and ominous—his so-called “Black Paintings.” To escape political scrutiny, Goya eventually moved to Bordeaux where he lived for the rest of his life. —RJR
Notable works: The Family of Charles IV, 1801; The Naked Maja, 1805; The Third of May, 1808, 1814 (page 162).
FUN FACT
The tumultuous political climate wasn’t the only reason for Goya’s increasingly bad-tempered disposition. An illness and high fever in the 1790s left him completely deaf, which caused him great anguish.